Bentstix knocked out

In a tense 1-0 loss against Sydney University, the Bentstix hockey team was knocked out of the Sydney hockey finals.

Playing at Bankstown Hockey Club, the Division 4, second grade team was unable to even the scales against an early goal from Sydney University.

After the opening quarter, neither side was able to score despite several near misses.

Bentstix president Drew Keenan said, while he was sad at the team’s loss, he was proud of how the team conducted itself throughout the winter season.

“It was disappointing that we lost, but overall it was a great result,” he said.

“It was a difficult season and we had people get injured, leave or move away. Even then we still won the previous 10 games in a row and to only lose three games in a season has been pretty outstanding,”

Keenan said a large part of the team’s success was due to team bonding and a new professional coach hired earlier this year.

“The social aspect of the club has really grown this year. I think that’s part of why we played better as a team and we’ve improved dramatically with our new coach,” Keenan said.

“In the end we didn’t enter the competition just to win — we’re there because we actually enjoy playing the sport, we enjoy keeping fit and also the social interaction.”

The club will field a women’s team next winter on the back of a gold medal-winning performance at this year’s Wellington Outgames.

Keenan said he was excited to have club vice president Leah Sawford on board to develop the women’s team.

“There must be 15 to 20 women who will be looking to play next year so we’re very excited about that,” he said.